A terrifying tale with a smart build up, a horrifying finale that has also something important to say. 

• Entertainment factor: ★★★★★
• Scare factor: ★★★★★
• Originality factor: ★★★★★
• How shaky is the camera? Not at all. 

Horror in the High Desert is a found footage horror and mockumentary that is based on the real disappearance of Kenny Veach in 2014. He was being bullied while exploring as was the main character in this film. Not only a slow build with a terrifying ending this film also wants to make clear that bullying is dangerous and even deadly and anything but harmless. It stars Eric Mencis, Suziey Block, Tonya Williams Ogden, Errol Porter, David Morales. Directed & written by Dutch Marich. 

Duration: 1h 22m

Plot

Gary Hinge is a 32-year-old hiker and survivalist who works for Map Nevada to map out remote areas in Nevada. One day in July 2017 he went missing. His last hike he left his dog Tuca at home, which was strange because he always took Tuca with him. 

Journalist Gale Robert who covers his case, his sister Beverly Hinge and roommate Simon Rodgers are interviewed about who Gary was and the mystery surrounding his disappearance. First they think he might be injured, or ate something bad, or maybe suffered a heatstroke. 

But when his car is found at an unusual place with finger prints on the steering wheel that aren’t Gary’s and barefoot foot prints next to the car, they suspect something more sinister was at play. Beverly hires private detective William “Bill” Salerno who tries to find out more. Although a big search is set up with a lot of people, the Nevada desert is just too big. 

Then they find out that Gary had a blog called “don’t hike with headphones” and see some disturbing last three videos. Gary had stumbled upon a makeshift cabin far out in the backwoods, that gave him the creeps. He told his 50,000 followers, but they insisted he’d go back. Some even said they didn’t believe him. His loyal followers who loved him for his survival tips and tricks and hiking videos, now turned against him. They bullied him into going back there to prove it was all real. So he does go back. 

He had footage of the cabin but Beverly accidentally deleted it. There is no more information about that cabin and place, because Gary didn’t want to share its location. Preventing unexperienced people from going out there in search for it. 

Nobody knew where he had gone and what happened to him, until a couple that was camping in the desert woke up and found his backpack with his stuff inside deliberately put at their campsite. Inside it they found a severed hand still clutching a video camera. A camera with the memory card inside. It showed his final footage and his final moments that are terrifying and devastating. 

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Short Review

The film has a slow build up. We meet Beverly, Gale and Simon who all tell more about who Gary was as a person. He was a kind person, trustworthy and calm. He loved hiking  and nature, animals and the wideness of the desert and he loved trains. He was a private person, nobody in his close circle even knew about his blog. He called himself Scorpion Sam on his blog, keeping his real identity to himself. 

While Beverly, Simon and Gale are telling his story, we see footage of his videos. These videos let us meet Gary but they also show beautiful shots of the Nevada desert, the animals who live there. But they also show the abandoned places, like a cemetery in the middle of nowhere, structures, old mining sites, which are all real. They used to mine minerals in that vast area, but now there are about 300,000 abandoned mining features. That footage of real places adds to an even more realistic vibe. 

The interviews are also very realistic. We learn more about the relationship between Gary and Simon, which was neutral, and his relationship with his sister Beverly which was complicated because she blamed him for their parent’s death and raised him since. She is devastated that he is missing, but she also feels resentment towards him. It makes them more human, with flaws, complicated pasts and not just a story that works towards a terrifying ending. 

I think the set up and build up is very well done. You get invested in the story. Gary is likable and you hope against hope that he will be found, alive. You also feel for Beverly and the whole way the mockumentary is put together makes it very realistic, but also very sad. 

The first hour is the story about Gary and those whom he left behind. Slowly we discover more, like his blog, and what he had found in the desert. Then after the car was found, the tone already shifts a bit. But it truly shifts when they found his hand and camera. The last 20 minutes are what the whole film before was building towards. I think that those 20 minuets alone wouldn’t have had as much impact without the hour that went before. Now you are totally invested, feel sorry for Gary and Beverly and really want to know what happened to him. 

Those last 20 minutes are absolutely terrifying. I have seen this film about four times, and every time it scares me. The footage shot with an infrared camera in the dark, with only a short range that is visible is scary on its own. But then the noises, the sounds, the   eerie music that is distorted and disorienting freaks me out every time. It creates such a dreadful feeling. When he aims the camera at the cabin it really gets scary. Watch carefully and look in the middle of the cabin. It is such a subtle but scary movement that terrifies me every time. But it’s not over yet. The disfigured man who comes running at Gary out of nowhere, without any warning, it’s  a shock each time I see it. It’s such a good jump scare. 

I think this film is very ceverly done. With a very simple premise that is based on the real disappearance of hiker and YouTuber Kenny Veach. He disappeared in 2014 after being called a liar and a chicken while he was searching for a cave in Area 51. 

It’s a sad story and it makes me angry that people can be bullied in a way that not only takes away their love for something, but they then feel obligated to prove themselves to total strangers. Bullying, online or offline is devastating for the victim, it’s mean and deprived of any morality, but it also proves to be deadly. 

Horror in the High Desert is not only a good horror movie full of dread and an emotional backstory, but it’s also a cautionary tale how dangerous bullying can be. That makes it also a horror that has something important to say. 

Read more about the Horror in the High Desert franchise:

• Horror in the High Desert 2: Minerva (2023) review + recap